Pronycticebus

Pronycticebus Temporal range: Early–Middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	† Notharctidae
Subfamily:	† Cercamoniinae
Genus:	† Pronycticebus G. Grandidier, 1904
Type species
†Pronycticebus gaudryi G. Grandidier, 1904
Species
P. gaudryi P. neglectus
Synonyms
Godinotia neglectaThalmann et al., 1989

Pronycticebus was a genus of adapiformes primates that lived during the early to middle Eocene. It is represented by two species, Pronycticebus gaudryi and Pronycticebus neglectus, ^[1] of which an almost complete specimen was found in Germany, ^[2] and the Quercy Phosphorites Formation of France.

Morphology

Pronycticebus neglectus possessed what appears to be a grooming claw on the second digit of each foot like modern strepsirhines (Fleagle, 1999) and had a dental formula of 2:1:4:3. Pronycticebus neglectus has a petrosal bulla and a postorbital bar. Pronycticebus neglectus may have been a nocturnal or a crepuscular species, which is suggested by a relatively large orbital size. Pronycticebus neglectus has a relatively large baculum for a species of its size, which had an average body mass of 825 grams.^{[ citation needed ]}

Range

Pronycticebus neglectus lived in Europe. ^[2]

Locomotion

Based upon limb morphology, Pronycticebus neglectus moved by quadrupedalism, leaping, and climbing. This species is less of a leaper than the notharctines and used slow quadrupedalism less than the adapines. ^[3]

References

1. Gebo 2002, pp. 28–29.
2. Fleagle 1998, p. 362.
3. Fleagle 1998, pp. 362–363.

• Conroy, G.C. 1990. Primate Evolution. W.W. Norton and Co.: New York.
• Martin, R.D. 1990. Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.
• "Pronycticebus neglectus". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
• http://www.aim.unizh.ch/StaffofInstitute/AffResearchers/uthal/Publications.html%5B%5D
• Mikko's Phylogeny Archive

Literature cited

• Gebo, D.L. (2002). "Adapiformes: Phylogeny and adaptation". In Hartwig, W.C. (ed.). The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-08141-2. OCLC   47254191.
• Fleagle, J.G. (1998). Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-080-49213-1. OCLC   40543995.